Sturgeon have been confirmed in the Charles!
 

From depths of the Charles River, an endangered species surfaces

Cool!

I would love to see a big one jump... I have seen pictures of the huge ones jumping on the Columbia River in Oregon. Anyone hear ever seen one on the Merrimack? Rockfish 9?

I watched a show on Sturgeon fishing in the Columbia yesterday Chris. They get huge. The show explained how the fishery was almost wiped out completely but they brought it back. Guy had a big one on, it jumped straight out of the water. Real impressive to see a freshwater fish that big.

Maybe our grand kids will fish the Charles R for 9' sturgeon.....:drool:

they seam to be making a strong come back all over. i've seen mostly smaller ones, to about 4 feet or so.

i've seen a bunch jumping in the merrimack while inspecting bridges up in the haverhill area.

we see a couple jumping out in saco bay from the beach in the summer too.

I think the breed off Wasque (Tom shoal area). You sometimes see them jump in mid-late May out there. The ones I've seen are not real big, however.

must be cleaner now

I saw a big one caught when I was a kid in Fire Island Inlet, weird looking, almost prehistoric. I have never seen them jump around here but I will keep looking.

I think I have seen them in the north river before. I was out kayaking and saw something big swirl about 20 yards in front of me and from what I could tell it was not a striper, the coloring and dorsal fin were just not striper like. Ive heard stories of them being in their but never seen or heard of anyone i know catching one

I've seen a few in the CT. I saw a small one in the fish lift window at the Holyoke dam. There cool looking fish

they got a few at the mouth of the Merrimack last year when i was in NH, read it in a local paper.

I found a dead one about 5' long on the southside of BI two years ago. He was fresh - clear eyes

get a little fish egg stuff ( i dont know how to spell caviour or what ever it is) on a cracker?

Can we sell them?
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Don't tell RoyL, he'll be in there with 2 # test and his camera.:rotf2:

I saw a show about fishing for them on the river leading to and a short distance from Niagara Falls a few years ago, they were quite large.

Thanks for sharing Buzz!

So cool....May they go forth and multiply.

I see them quite a bit in the Saco bay area, especially at the mouth of rivers, I've seen one swim under a dock 6 to 7 feet long, and have caught one that was 4 feet, which I thought to be my trophy striper, they sure can burn drag. :smash: Its still is a little eerie seeing them finning in the shallows, to the uninitiated it sure looks like a shark fin.

Yes up in Lawrence

Any pics of the beast?
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Pretty soon, a striped bass will be just as rare!

A pic of half its tail, had my phone out and my buddy went to grab its tail and it nearly knocked him down and surged away. If I think I will try to take some pics this summer of some swimming in the shallows. They are such a regular occurence on a certain sandbar its nothing to see several that size on everytrip. I avoided dragging any bucktails through the sand anymore because the bigger ones will just spool ya and its highly illegal to fish for them or remove them.

We do have quite a few up here in Maine now. you see them in the SACO,DUNSTAN,PRESUPSCOTT,KENEBEC an many other rivers too. Carefull with pictures though I had one on the wall at Saco Bay Tackle once that we were releasing an got a visit from the marine patrol asking why I had a protected specie out of the water. Even if it was to release it.LOL Had to chuckle as we never know whats gonna hit a bait when we cast it out.

isn't it one of the oldest species of fish?

I foul-hooked three last season that were 4-5 ft in length. Since they are endangered, you can't fish for them or remove them from the water. I had to chase them down with the boat and remove the jig. All were hooked near the tail.

They are pretty impressive when they go airborne.

Nice story. Would be nice to see one of the larger ones!

This is my late grandfather Red (aka Tautog Sr)

Sturgeon caught off Newport (incidentally) in 1954.

For reference, Red was about 6'3"

Awesome pic Bryan!

I've seen a few in the wild.
 

I've seen them off East Matunuck, Jamestown and Narragansett, RI.

Two out of the three were alive and kicking. The third one was caught in a net near Black Point. I was unable to free it and when I returned with a knife it had died...sad ending for such a special creature.

You dive without a knife handy? Glad to see you tried/thought about releasing such a magnificent fish.

ive seen several in the merrimack, they are usually either at the mouth or right in the channel by bridge marina. You know it when you see one, they jump straight out of the water and usually go back in the same way. Most i've seen are in the 3-4' range. cool to see. One particular day at the mouth in a 1-2 hour span i saw 4-5 jump at the mouth, i'm sure many others saw it too, there was a ton of boats that day.

The Charles has certainly cleaned up, I may be dating myself but I grew up in Brighton and spent many a summer day on the banks of the Charles, exploring and seeing all kinds of offal from the Brighton abbatoir in the river... Lots of herring, the ubiquitous 'Goldies" (big goldfish released from homes) and giant dining room table sized snapping turtles. In the evening you could catch dozens of big horn pout and In the upper reaches, saw a fellow catch an 18 inch white perch one day. Sometime in the 60s they held the National Hydroplane races from Magazine Beach on the Cambridge side of the BU Bridge and we saw a fellow from out-of-state brushing his teeth using the river water, I never forgot that gruesome sight...

I thought I saw one off the ocean side beaches in Wellfleet about 10 years ago. Was on top in about 8 feet of water. Got a pretty good look but I didn't think they would be on the ocean side like that.

Found this one at Quonny last May. Between 4 and 5 feet long.

AWESOME FIND!